Posted on 03/13/2005 1:14:45 AM PST by txradioguy
Looting at Iraqi Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Official Says
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 12 - In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said this week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting.
The Iraqi official, Sami al-Araji, the deputy minister of industry, said it appeared that a highly organized operation had pinpointed specific plants in search of valuable equipment, some of which could be used for both military and civilian applications, and carted the machinery away.
Dr. Araji said his account was based largely on observations by government employees and officials who either worked at the sites or lived near them.
"They came in with the cranes and the lorries, and they depleted the whole sites," Dr. Araji said. "They knew what they were doing; they knew what they want. This was sophisticated looting."
The threat posed by these types of facilities was cited by the Bush administration as a reason for invading Iraq, but the installations were left largely unguarded by allied forces in the chaotic months after the invasion.
Dr. Araji's statements came just a week after a United Nations agency disclosed that approximately 90 important sites in Iraq had been looted or razed in that period.
Satellite imagery analyzed by two United Nations groups - the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or Unmovic - confirms that some of the sites identified by Dr. Araji appear to be totally or partly stripped, senior officials at those agencies said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good reminder of our "Cassus Belli"
Thanks I knew that..I like to toy with them at times. ;)
That's not the point of this article. This is al Ka Ka redux. The argument being made is that, while we were conducting combat operations, we should also have devoted large numbers of troops to securing every sensitive site in Iraq. Because we didn't, the argument goes, dangerous stuff got to bad guys and it's Bush's fault.
Note the source, it's the UN. If they had info that Sadaam moved his WMD before the war, they would be sitting on it as highly classified.
That Iraq would one day be able to deliver a nuclear device? Yes.
Let me gently disagree here. While the threat of an Iraqui-built nuclear device certainly existed, it seems to me the clear and present danger making invasion urgent was the probability that Saddam would purchase ready-made bomb(s) from Paki, NK, China, Russia, wherever, and deliver them into the hands of Al Quaeda for immediate attacks on the U.S. It astonishes me that more has not been made of this scenario, especially since Saddam was flush with cash diverted from the Oil for Fools program and he certainly hated the U.S. enough to try to hurt us any way possible. Iraq's longer-range nuclear capabilities were part of the decision to invade as well, as you say.
;)
bump
I am glad the DUmmie dropped in to troll..Your replies made for a great thread!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1080245/posts
IRAQ AND TERRORISM?
Posted on 02/17/2004 10:11:49 PM CST by NotrDfan
Does anyone know where to find information on whether or not Saddam Hussein had direct connections to terrorists?
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This thread was posted by a troll and it turned into a treasure trove of links and research...Some trolls serve a purpose!
I wonder if some of the more "sensitive" sites weren't "looted" before the Coalition had any "boots" on the ground, maybe even before the first bombs were dropped. With the "looting" being done by guys in Republican Guard or Saddam Mujahadeen uniforms.
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